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Glimmers of hope

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Could have collared by the fashion police, wandering down in my Smart navy school suit and red wellingtons.

I am pleased to announce the posh roses, some of them, have buds. And at least three roses are forming.

My grapevine, is looking beautiful. As tiny as she is, I think the one that you see is a red one. She had been presumed dead. So very, very happy to see her get going.

Broadies look a bit bent over; has been a very miserable, wet and windy day today. They are, however, starting to flower. That was reason for the visit today, to see if the Wendy was still there. And it was. Home to the chillies and bells, frauzauber has some rather nice yellow tinged floo’ers. Lipstick does too, so we shall see!

Whilst the garlic is sending up scrapes, shallots show no sign of wanting to budge. Will be keeping an eye on them. Pickle, perhaps.

The difference a spot of rain makes. Potatoes are going crazy. Didn’t think they got that tall.

Out of 9, I have seen 3 cucumber plants. Have started to grow a little. But still not very big.

Some of Ma’s mustard has bolted, is sending out floo’ers that will be yellow.

All is not bad ^_^

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

construction, Planting out, Preparation

Infrastructure

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Have planted enough onions, I think, to sink a small ship. I won’t be sowing any more. I forget now, the different varieties. But there are brown, white, red and white onions covering a good eighty per cent of the plot. This, is going to make things difficult later on, I think as I plant to sow dwarf French beans too. The reasoning was to sow DFB’s where ever there was any spare space. As you may have already read, the autumn and winter was wall to wall rain. This more or less killed all of the overwintering onions and shallots. Some of the garlic, was more hardier than expected and it has taken off beautifully. On observation, whilst it is nice to see, it does appear to be on the smaller, thinner side. This could be, the elements or the variety, it is difficult to categorically identify cause and effect. It did make me happy though! To see the garlic standing there proudly on sentry duty. With a long way to June, July and August, the crop has plenty of time to fatten up. Besides, looking at the top, means nothing as to what is happening down below.

With the one bed that is chocca full of allieums, to see the green foliage is heartening. In the dark dankness of the autumn and winter, there was great difficulty in seeing the woods for the trees when everything seemed to be decimated. One could very well end up with a field of onions. It worked for Chicago….

There must be hundreds and hundreds of onions on the plot. Might keep mama h busy for a while. Have yet to think about how to store them, or how to dry them. Answers on post card please.

Grapevines. Two very brown and sticky grapevines, planted in the depths of autumn. One of which is still standing. Neither, seems to have rooted. Very disappointed, these were supposed to grow and bisect the plot. 

Broadbeans, have died a death. Those gangly, green creatures from last week; have become blackened beings. Those that I could see, that is. They have disappeared completely. I did think that they were too good to be true. I did direct sow a few last week. But I guess I will be sowing some more indoors. Very very disappointing since they were held back for such a long time. I’m not sure as to whether these will be in paper pots or traditional modules. Just very disheartening really. One could scream and shout.

Runner beans are thought of as happy saviour. This morning, I have been trying to think of the infrastructure as the title of the blog suggests. A couple of wig wams have been put up. And several rows of bamboo cane, to which pea and bean netting will be slung. It’s not very clear in the picture, imagine walls of beans. That will mean lots of beans being sown, again a matter of luck. You do realise that I won’t actually be able to reach the top of the canes to hanf the netting. May need adult supervision and aid for that one. Won’t be expensive netting either, just the cheap quidland variety. If they don’t all fall down in the wind.

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Herbs: Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic Chives, Golden and common sage, oregano, Russian and French tarragon  plus another one that isn’t labelled. This have been sat in the four tier blowaway for months-which is why the sage and chives look a bit worse for wear-and I would like to put them out onto the plot at some stage. Rather than sink them into open ground, they may take up space in the raised beds. Whilst it is still very early, squashes will be carefully considered. As to which ones, and where. Theoretically, one or two could be planted per bed. With three beds containing potatoes, that leaves nine beds in which a couple could take up residence. There are quite a few varieties in the seed stasher. To this day, Bruno the Ghost rider and Claude the courgette are very flukey, and most likely beginners luck!

Posh roses seem to be doing okay. Growing leaves and buds. The poundland ones, look exceptionally sorry for themselves and are a fraction of the size of the posh roses. So the jury really is still out on them. 

I am fighting a constant war with the raised beds, in terms of making sure there is material in them. There are two builders bags that contain leaf mold, and this will be used to add to the some of the beds. Then, hopefully, as I’ve been saying for months;  a layer of compost will be put onto the top. Today, I had half a lie in so didn’t muster of up the gusto to get it. Plus, as I look out the window; precipitation has arrived. As is expected with April. With having workable raised beds, it will feel as though there is progress and after a long time. Not sure that root veg will like it in there; what with the layers of leaf mold, garden waste and compost; can just imagine wonky carrots. Which aren’t a problem, per se! Would love to sow lots and lots of carrots. Not going to happen with the open ground, the clay is not best when a fine tilth is required. There is a bag of sand on hand, if I fancy digging that in somewhere.

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Preparation

Potential

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Having not set foot onto the plot during half term week, I did so today with a heavy heart. Chiding myself, that I hadn’t been. I had to smile, when I arrived there. One of the lotment neighbours, had very kindly and with my permission, dug a trench. I know what you’re thinking. Why didn’t I? I fully understand that, and I will. That combined with the relatively dry weather, has resulted in puddles disappearing. There is no standing water. A huge relief, after 6 months of having to tread the stuff. A glimmer in the darkness, really.

Further inspection observed that spring bulbs are coming up. I forget not which varieties. There were hundreds sunk in the autumn. I am quite tempted to sink more, as the majority seem to have been eaten by the clay. In addition, the posh roses are starting to look a little alive. The one above is a pascalli. Most of the posh roses seem to be in a similar condition. With one planting looking a bit battered. The Poundland plants don’t seem to be as chirpy. One or two perhaps have buds forming.

The overwintering garlic, whilst still standing, doesn’t half look so miserable. It may well have a check with the bad weather; but it still has some time to endure before summer.

As ever, I still need to put compost into the beds. That I will do piece meal over the next few weeks. Doesn’t seem so daunting as it did before. Am further tempted to lay down newspaper and cardboard to then plant through it.

Chillis are still being pampered on a classroom windowsill. As are tomatos. There was a broadbean crisis.

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What horror and shock I experienced in my return to work after a week away. Alas they had to be doused in water.

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Very heavily doused in water; with some of the tops snipped off. Dehydration and lack of heat had toppled them. But they are now recovering.

Here’s to potential,

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Taking stock

Penny pinching and planting

Gardening, and allotmenteering, lays itself open to be very expensive. At least in the outset, and making preparations. Flicking through seed catalogues, surfing the companies online can also mean for pennies and pounds being spent.

Seed saving, as well as swapping, goes some way towards alleviating that cost. I have benefited from a number of swapped seeds, in addition I have passed on seeds for others to try. This particularly true, of people who wish to sow heritage seeds. Many seed varieties of yore, have been forgotten, save for the efforts of studious seed savers who have diligently saved seeds to keep them in circulation. There are off course many techniques, some simple others less so, that allow this to happen. With chillies, for example, one needs asbestos gloves given how potent some chillies can be. With tomatoes, one needs a penchant for slime in fishing them out of a jam jar. Beans, can be left to dry, and plucked from a crispy pod. It is that is simple. You will also get those plants and vegetables that are wont to sow their wild oats and cross widely. So that is seed saving, encouraged and plausible.

 

In tending the plot, an interesting experiment has developed. There are some roses that are more expensive than some of their plot counterparts, bought from a mail order company. The counterparts, are from a shop, where everything is priced at one pound or from a shop where goods are priced at being a penny below the pound. You can see the statement of the obvious. There is not much in the price of these two groups of roses, approximately £1.50 would separate the roses from online and the high street bought ones. Before the snow descended, the online ordered ones were actually demonstrating some growth on the thorny stems. The high street ones, did actually look a bit sorry for themselves. They were also still covered in green protective wax, that I had thought would have disappeared by now. 

 

Previously, spring flowering bulbs had been planted. It would be a surprise if any of these actually came up now,to be fair. All, generally, from those high street shops where you spend a pound. In the past, these have been reasonably successful. There are also some blueberries and redcurrant plants.

 

As I venture into these high street shops, I do wonder about the success rate. More recently, there have potatoes, onions, different seed varieties on the shelves. A reflection perhaps of how more and more people are choosing to grow their own food. The variety does seem to be getting more and more extensive, and more value compared to the stock held by garden centres. For many years, there has always been a clamour for Aldi and Lidl with their gardening GYO offers. With Wilkinsons also proving themselves to be a useful resource. 

 

Then there is the pot making contraption, Whilst it is labour intensive, it is incredibly useful. Made me reconsider, just how much money could be spent on pots that weren’t going to be occupied for very long. With the broadbeans currently in paper pots, I hope that this will also help the rather challenging clay soil on the plot.

 

It remains to be seen, if being savvy with pounds and pence makes any difference,

Yours in anticipation,

 

Horticultural Hobbit

Planting out, roses

“Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud”

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“Roses have thorns and silver fountains mud”

Planted out the following roses:
2 xRosa garden princess
2 xRosa dame de coeur
2 xRosa Joro
2xRosa queen of England

These eight roses are purchased not from a poundshop, but the one where you get a penny change from a pound. The ones listed below are from the poundshop.

3 x Red Beauty Roses
1 x Pink Rosa
1 x Kronenbourg rose

In addition there is one each of Blue Moon Christian Dior, Harry Wheatcroft, Silver Jubilee, Dutch Gold, Pascalli, Peace, Lovers Meeting, Double Delight and Ruby Wedding. These are the slightly posher roses, and have been in the ground since the autumn. They are significantly bigger than the cheaper more recently acquired roses. Perhaps as the earlier ones are the product of a sturdier producer.

I never intended having so many roses on the plot. In the first instance, it was a whim, a case of why not. They are pretty. Perhaps they’d form a nice enclosure, and be a barrier against the wind. Then I remembered that certain value shops, have roses in at some point in the year. I had seen them, not thought much of them. There are even a couple in pop’s back garden.

Something of an interesting hypothesis test can be carried out. Whether or not the posh roses can be compared with the ones that are less so. Will certainly have to look at what these varieties need in terms of care. There are many who believe that Rose management is both an art and a science.

For the moment, as snow threatens to descend upon the plot; I have plugged in and will see what happens.

Monday, that’s when Blighty will have snow. Brace yourselves.

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Planting out

Purchases and Puddles: Hello 2013

Having not paid a visit to the plot for the duration of the festivities, today I ventured down. Not before, though, purchases had been made on the behalf of Santa Clause.

Purchased today from Poundland

3 x Red Beauty Roses

1 x Pink Rosa

1 x Kronenbourg rose

2 x Blueberry

2 x Red Currant

I had been wanting to get the roses, I kicked myself last year having missed them. That, and I have now cottoned onto the bargains that certain pound and ninety nine pence places present. There are opponents and proponents of this approach, there will always be naysayers. I would like to find out and explore. In addition to this, I know of a certain value supermarkets that are renowned for their GYO offers.

If it goes pear shaped, it will go pear shaped.  There was also the eight Raspberry canes that were being planted out. These are a continuity collection, in that these are meant to crop from Summer through to Autumn. I bought sixteen, and shared these with Aunty Tish who is planting these on her plot. She had given me a redcurrant last year. I may well have killed it by not planting it properly and then pulling it out as it looked brown and stick-y.

Brown and sticky, is what everything looks like, to be honest. The roses were covered in a thick layer of green wax. I had read about this, and perhaps need to look into that. It will be interesting to see how these roses, each costing a pound each will fare with the other roses. The other roses, are Hybrid Tea Roses and were purchased as the ten items were in a collection that was marked as being half price. So how will a rose costing a pound, fare against a rose that was meant be four times that (The roses were £2.10 each when I found them).

And the puddles. There are still puddles, and puddles of standing water. Slightly wiffy, standing water, I might add. The plot is best described as wonky, entirely uneven and all over the shop at that.

Onions, shallots and garlic have made some progress. There are certainly more garlic shoots than there are any other allieums. I was pleasantly surprised, but the garlic shoots standing proudly and like sentries. That is a sight, that perhaps I had not anticipated. So very, very nice to see. There are may be two, broad bean shoots. These would be the claudia aquadulce. Not surprised by that, though one was very nibbled looking. There are shallots present, and they are sending up shoots. Again, not many, but it is happening.  I had to return a few onion sets to the ground as they were pulled up; most likely by birdies. A couple of sets were littered around, having been snacked on by them horrible creatures that are squirrels.

Leeks, there were a few. I think Aunty Tish had given me 22 babies. I couldn’t put a figure on the number that I saw. Only that there were a few,standing up right and paying attention, amongst the rather moody and muddy looking strawberry runners.

Bulbs. There are some. Sprouting in a border. It was a blink and you missed it moment; but I assure you. They were there. I must have planted hundred in the early autumn. Not many at all, have started to sprout. That may well be because it is still early, and spring bulbs have some time yet to make themselves known. Or, they too have become a casualty of the deluge. It is difficult to make any absolute comment based on the observation of the plot at the moment.

A moment of bah humbag, the headline news this evening that Blighty is going to suffer further extreme weather.  Honestly, tch.

 

Yours in Anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit